Gul B14 Nationals at Paignton day 3 © Steve Cayley

A very similar day to yesterday. A postponement ashore again waiting in hope that a sea breeze - or any sailable breeze - would materialise. After a short wait on the water, the air movement stabilised sufficiently for PRO James Ripley to set a course and get a start away.

Blue Badge (Beezer & Half Pint Pete) led off the pin, but bottled it and put in a textbook "cross the fleet while you can" hitch which handed the lead to Abacus (Crispin Taylor & Gi Harrill) who gradually extended into an unassailable lead. Snapping at Blue Badge's heels where Gul/North Sails (Alan Davis & Char Horlock) and Trunky (Kathy Sherratt & Josh Wilce). This order remained until final run when, as the breeze waned from 3-4 knots down to 1-2, Gul/North Sails pressured Blue Badge into leaving their gybe in to the finish too late to take 2nd.

The fleet were then sent ashore in the hope that things would improve, but alas it was not to be.

Mexican evening with fancy dress and Tequila in the boat park was a fair substitute, followed by quantities of great Mexican food provided by Paignton Sailing Club.

The forecast for tomorrow looks more promising, so with the top 5 boats within a few points and the potential of a 2nd discard bringing one or two others into play it is basically a reset and start again.

Results after Day 3:

 

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts
1st 765 Steve Hollingsworth Elliot Holman Restronguet SC 2 7 1 3 -10 13
2nd 797 Mark Watts Matt Johnson Weston SC 6 3 3 1 -7 13
3rd 771 Mike Bees Pete Nicholson Brightlingsea SC 1 6 -7 4 3 14
4th 786 Geraldine Fermor Leaky Fermor   10 2 2 2 -13 16
5th 78 Kathy Sherratt Josh Wilce Weston SC /Rutland SC 3 5 4 -9 4 16
6th 787 Alan Davis Charlotte horlock Weston SC / Exe SC -12 1 6 12 2 21
7th 762 Chrispy Taylor Gi Harrill Starcross SC 4 -11 10 11 1 26
8th 770 Simon Hadley Nikki Hadley Whistable SC 5 10 8 (DPI) 6 29
9th 789 Henry Metcalf Jasmine Husband Restronguet SC -9 9 9 6 5 29
10th 764 Tony Blackmore Meg Baker Starcross 7 -12 5 10 8 30
11th 785 Peter Kight Alex Restronguet SC / Torpoint SC 8 8 -12 8 9 33
12th 758 Tim Harrison Anna Marriott   -13 4 11 7 12 34
13th 620 Ben Lloyd-King Jez Page Restronguet SC 11 -15 13 13 15 52
14th 788 Gary Parks Chris Webber Restronguet SC (UFD) 13 14 14 18 59
15th 735 Tom Gatehouse Kate Gatehouse Netley SC 14 17 18 -20 11 60
16th 70 Alicia Clifford Chaelie Hadley Whistable SC 15 14 16 16 -24 61
17th 7 Carl Raynes Guy Raynes   16 -18 15 15 17 63
18th 766 Barry Price Adam Kicten Grafham / Hayling SC 19 19 -21 17 14 69
19th 723 Patrick Seyler Stacey Bray Porthpean SC 22 -24 17 19 16 74
20th 694 Alistair Moppett Rory Moppett Bough Beech SC -23 20 19 18 20 77
21st 749 Will Rand Q van Meurs Lymington Town SC 20 16 -23 21 23 80
22nd 707 Amir Shamsuddin Al Storer King George 17 -22 20 22 21 80
23rd 358 Mattias Lange Helge Ludwig Blankeneser Segal Club 18 23 25 (DNS) 19 85
24th 731 Stewart Hadfield Lewis Kneale Bala SC 21 21 22 23 -25 87
25th 672 Christian Wilms Daniela Alt Eastbourne Sovereign SC (DNF) 25 24 24 22 95
Copyright Mike Bees

No breeze (but plenty of sunshine) stopped play today. An attempt was made to get a race in but that was abandoned as the leaders approached the final windward mark. How happy you were about this depended very much on your position at the time...

Apparently some people saw dolphins so the day wasn't completely wasted.

The evening saw leaky games night. Teams raced to raise the cork from the depths of the leaky pipe structure, having to cope with holes, leaky joints and other teams stealing their buckets! Prizes included a brick, sweets and leaky pipe branded wooden spoons which quickly became WoMD.

 

Tomorrow's forecast isn't promising, but fingers crossed we will get some races in.

Results after Day 2:

 

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts
1st 765 Steve Hollingsworth Elliot Holman Restronguet SC 2 -7 1 3 6
2nd 786 Geraldine Fermor Leaky Fermor   -10 2 2 2 6
3rd 797 Mark Watts Matt Johnson Weston SC -6 3 3 1 7
4th 771 Mike Bees Pete Nicholson Brightlingsea SC 1 6 -7 4 11
5th 78 Kathy Sherratt Josh Wilce Weston SC /Rutland SC 3 5 4 -9 12
6th 787 Alan Davis Charlotte Horlock Weston SC / Exe SC -12 1 6 12 19
7th 758 Tim Harrison Anna Marriott   -13 4 11 7 22
8th 764 Tony Blackmore Meg Baker Starcross 7 -12 5 10 22
9th 770 Simon Hadley Nikki Hadley Whistable SC 5 10 8 (DPI) 23
10th 789 Henry Metcalf Jasmine Husband Restronguet SC -9 9 9 6 24
11th 785 Peter Kight Alex Restronguet SC / Torpoint SC 8 8 -12 8 24
12th 762 Chrispy Taylor Gi Harrill Starcross SC 4 -11 10 11 25
13th 620 Ben Lloyd-King Jez Page Restronguet SC 11 -15 13 13 37
14th 788 Gary Parks Chris Webber Restronguet SC (UFD) 13 14 14 41
15th 70 Alicia Clifford Chaelie Hadley Whistable SC 15 14 -16 16 45
16th 7 Carl Raynes Guy Raynes   16 -18 15 15 46
17th 735 Tom Gatehouse Kate Gatehouse Netley SC 14 17 18 -20 49
18th 766 Barry Price Adam Kicten Grafham / Hayling SC 19 19 -21 17 55
19th 749 Will Rand Q van Meurs Lymington Town SC 20 16 -23 21 57
20th 694 Alistair Moppett Rory Moppett Bough Beech SC -23 20 19 18 57
21st 723 Patrick Seyler Stacey Bray Porthpean SC 22 -24 17 19 58
22nd 707 Amir Shamsuddin Al Storer King George 17 -22 20 22 59
23rd 731 Stewart Hadfield Lewis Kneale Bala SC 21 21 22 -23 64
24th 358 Mattias Lange Helge Ludwig Blankeneser Segal Club 18 23 25 (DNS) 66
25th 672 Christian Wilms Daniela Alt Eastbourne Sovereign SC (DNF) 25 24 24 73

Twenty-five boats arrived at the lovely seaside resort of Paignton, for the Gul B14 Nationals hosted by the super-friendly Paignton Sailing Club and supported by Bays Brewery.

Day 1 dawned with what looked like a reasonable WNW blowing, but as the fleet launched for a 1pm start it started to drop away. After a short on-the-water postponement the sky cleared and the breeze started to build from the SE. PRO Ian Bullock and his team quickly laid a course and after a general recall the fleet was away with everyone on the racks.

Race 1 set a pattern of sorts - the first boat round the windward mark sailing away to an untroubled win. In this case it was Mike Bees/Pete Nicholson who came out of the left on the first beat. The other podium spots were taken by Steve Hollingsworth/Elliot Holman and Kathy Sherratt/Josh Wilce.

Race 2 followed the pattern to an extent, in that Alan Davis/Char Horlock cleared off into the distance but this time the right hand side was king, and remained so for the rest of the day. Next were Gerry & Leaky Fermor, starting a superb run of consistency, followed by Mark Watts and Matt Johnson.

Race 3 followed straight on with the conditions unchanged. This time Watts/Johnson took an early lead from Hollingsworth/Holman but those positions swapped mid-race as the early leaders had a brief sleep. Gerry & Leaky also slipped by for second.

With conditions looking poor for Friday, the race officer wisely added a 4th race. With the short races putting a premium on starts there was a bit of carnage on the start line, leading to a bit of protest/arbitration action. Watts/Johnson cleared off to a win, again followed by Gerry & Leaky followed by the also so-consistent Hollingsworth/Holman.

Welcome refreshment was provided in the dinghy park by Bays Brewery to cap an excellent afternoon in the sunshine

With another 10 races scheduled it's still early doors but the first three overall are showing ominous consistency.

The classic fleet is currently lead by Ben Lloyd-King & Jez Page.

Results after Day 1: (top six)

1. Hollingsworth & Holman, 2, (7), 1, 3, 6pts
2. Gerry & Leaky Fermor, (10), 2, 2, 2, 6pts
3. Watts & Johnson, (6), 3, 3, 1, 7pts
4. Bees & Nicholson, 1, 6, (7), 4, 11pts
5. Sherratt & Wilce, 3, 5, 4, (9), 12pts
6. Davis & Horlock, (12), 1, 6, 12, 19pts

Hola Amigo's

 
Welcome to the Gul 2018 B14 National and Open Championships at Paignton Sailing Club
supported by:
 
and Seavolution
 
 
This is your complete guide to the "Mexican" Championships.
 
When you arrive in Paignton the boat parking is on Paignton Green at the right hand end of the promenade as you look at the water. You will probably pass the Pirates of the Caribbean Golf Course (on the sea front) where the Paignton 2013 B14 World Crazy Golf championships were won and lost on the 18th hole! Past this and go right to the end. And just before the mini roundabout at the end is the turning left onto the promanade road and subsequently the green. Cars can be parked on the road and the boats unloaded. I'm not sure how long you'll get away with leaving your car there. There is paid parking along this road so if you pay...you can stay... 
If you entered early and got one of the much sort after 10 parking spaces nearer the slipway your boat parking space will be marked for you. The rest of you can park where you like!
There is usually a tent erected next to the entrance to the boat park which is where we can dispose of rubbish, collect our tallys and, to be confirmed, collect a cool refreshing beer/cider on the way back in.
 
GENERAL INFORMATION
Spares - Despite Barnsie not being there his spares will be! Charlotte and Alan (787) will be able to help with any spares required. These include booms, poles, precut ropes, etc. The best time to buy spares will be after racing each day. Not the hour before launching!
Galley Opening - The galley will be open each morning for Bacon butties, tea coffee etc.
Packed Lunches - Will be available each day. They will need to be booked the day before they are required with Calvin or Jane in the galley.
Cashpoints - The sailing club now has a card reader machine, which can take debit, credit and contactless cards. The nearest cashpoint is the local shop on Roundham Road, about 100 meters away from the club. The next nearest cashpoint is at the local cinema on Paignton Green. You will also find other cashpoints in Paignton Town center
Car Parking - Behind the sailing club there is a pay and display car park (about £8-10 a day from memory), there is also free on-street parking behind the club on Cliff Road, Roundham Avenue or Cleveland Road.
Waste - In an effort to cut down our enviromental impact please be aware that safety boats will take any litter or waste whilst out on the water. Please secure any plastic bottles and containers to your boat in case of capsize! We will also be providing waste bins in the boat park for used tape, empty water bottles etc when ashore. Please keep the boat park tidy.
 
DAILY INFORMATION
Wednesday 1st Aug - Arrival day for most.
Measuring Boats - We will be measuring boats before you are able to register. Charlotte Horlock and Barry Price will be completing this duty in the boat park. I'm not sure at this stage what it may entail but be aware that it may require the mast removed from the boat. We'll try and get this going asap on Weds as people arrive.
Registration
Open in the clubhouse between 3pm and 6pm and we'll need to know the following:
Confirmation of attendance at Commodores reception on Thurs evening.
Order Fish and Chips for Friday evening.
Polo shirts, if ordered can be collected.
 
Club Racing 6.30PM start.  Club and bar will be open with Pizza and potato wedges, salad etc for £3.50
 
 
Thursday 2nd Aug
Registration will be open between 9am and 10am
Boat Park briefing 11am
First race will start at 1pm*
B14 Class AGM in the sailing club bar 5pm
Commodores reception. Free Buffet. 7pm
Friday 3rd Aug
Boat Park briefing 9am
Racing starts at 11am*
Leaky Games - Location TBA 5.30PM
Fish and chip supper £5.50 each (Please book at registration) from 7PM
 
Saturday 4th Aug
Boat Park briefing 9am
Racing starts at 11am*
Party in the (boat) Park from 6pm Sombreros and Moustaches compulsory! You have been warned
Mexican theme evening in club bar 7pm
Sunday 5th Aug
Boat Park briefing 9am
Racing starts at 11am*
Prize Giving TBA but as soon as possible after racing finishes.
After sailing and before home food. Pasta or Pizza £3.50
* The times stated for the start of racing is for info only. Please see sailing instructions and official notices for any changes that may take place.
And finally...
Paignton Sailing Club is run by volunteers who are very friendly and generally don't bite! If you need further information or help during your visit here they will be very willing to help. Just ask!
Looking forward to an epic championship both on and off the water. Please drive safetly and we;'ll see you all on Weds or Thurs.
Regards
Gringo Tony